SERVICE! Off to the best start in the program's history, the Titans' volleyball team rolls into Big West Conference competition this weekend with unprecedented momentum.

Fullerton is already in double digits in victories for only the tenth time in 31 seasons, and needs only four more victories to clinch only its third winning season. First up will be road matches at Pacific and Cal State Northridge.

The Titans won their third tournament of the young season on Saturday by sweeping Lipscomb, Penn and San Diego State. They have now won a school record, six matches in a row, and had a 14-game winning streak that ended last Saturday morning. Senior Danielle Hitzeman was name the Holiday Inn Buena Park Fullerton Classic amassing 31 kills, 67 digs, nine aces and 8 assists in the three matches.

ON THE AIR: Patrick Alog will make the trek to Northridge to bring you the play-by-play of the Saturday night match on the internet. Follow the banner on the home page of our website fullertontitans.com and take in all the action of your 11-1 Titans in Big West competition. Also you can sign up for video streaming of all Big West matches by going to www.bigwest.org/tv/ for more information.

VERSUS THE TIGERS: The Titans split the two matches against Pacific in 2005, with a 3-0 sweep at home and a 3-1 loss at the Spanos Center. Fullerton is 2-42 all-time against the Tigers and have won both games since 2004. The Titans have never won in Stockton. In 2005 The Titans defeated the Tigers in the Big West conference opener...their first and only conference-opening win in the school's history.

VERSUS THE MATADORS: The Titans are 6-16 all-time against CSUN dating back to 1980. The two teams split the season series in 2005 with each team winning on their respective home courts.

QUICK HITS:
&\#149; Fullerton continues its unprecedented start to a season improving to 11-1 with wins over Lipscomb, Penn and Sand Diego State last weekend. The Titans are currently riding a program-best, six-game winning streak. Never before have the Titan volleyballers won more than five matches in a row.

&\#149; This year's team started off 5-0, tying a school record (1985, 87, 96) with most consecutive wins to start a season.

&\#149; The Titans recorded 14 straight winning games from Sept. 8 to Sept. 16 over a span of five matches to set a new school record. The old record was held by the 1996 squad which posted 12 wins in a row from Oct. 9 to Oct. 14 over a span of four matches.

&\#149; The Titans are 11-0 in tournament play this season, winning three tournament titles (Four Points Titan Classic, Comcast Logo Invitational, and the Holiday Inn Fullerton Classic) in a season for the first time in the history of the program. Fullerton also competed in the Long Beach state Tournament, going 2-0. The Titans did not place in the tournament because they did not play a full tournament schedule. The Titans have lost just 6 of 39 games in tournament play.

&\#149; Sophomore Brittany Moore became just the seventh Big West Player of the Week in the program's existence on 9/4/06, and first since 2004 (Lauren Goins, OH).

&\#149; The 2006 squad is looking to post its first winning season since 1996 after a pair of near misses in 2004 (14-14) and 2005 (14-15). The Titans need just 4 more match victories to insure its first winning season in nine seasons.

&\#149; The team's 28-29 record over the past two seasons has given them the best winning percentage (.491) in back-to-back years in the program's 30-year existence.

&\#149; The 2006 Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll has predicted a fifth place finish for the Titans -their highest preseason ranking ever. The Titans have never won more than 6 conference matches in the history of the program.

THE ZIMMERMAN FILE:Carolyn Zimmerman is entering her fifth full season as the Titan volleyball head coach, continuing to build the Cal State Fullerton program into viable contender in the always-tough Big West Conference.

In just four seasons, Zimmerman has steered the Titans from just five wins in 2002 to back-to-back 14-win seasons in 2004 and 2005. Also, over the past two seasons under her tutelage, the team has recorded the school's third best single-season win totals and posted the best winning percentage of any two consecutive years in the program's history.

Zimmerman coached her first, first-team All-Big West player in Vanessa Vella, as well as All-Big West Freshman Brittany Moore in 2005 adding to the list of her former players honored by the conference.

Coach Zimmerman's teams have now posted six pre-season tournament championships, (two in 2004, one in 2005, and all three in 2006) and three second-place finishes (two in 2003 and one in 2005) en route to a 29-15 non-conference record since 2003.

MVP:Danielle Hitzeman had a well-rounded weekend earning the Holiday Inn Tournament MVP award. The senior from Vacaville, Calif. fired off 31 kills (2.82 kpg), eight assists (0.73 apg), a team-leading 67 digs (6.09 dpg) and 9 service aces (0.82 sapg) to lead the Titans to their sixth straight victory and third tourney championship of the season. Hitzeman tied the ninth-best single-match dig total with 29 against Penn on Saturday morning, following up with a 24-dig performance in the nightcap versus San Diego State. In both the Titans' last two matches, Hitzeman earned a double-double (kills and digs), and tallied a season-high 6 aces in the first match against Lipscomb.

IN THE BIG WEST:
&\#149;Brittany Moore (.362) and Amanda Pfielschiefter (.335) are 3rd and 5th respectively in the conference in attack percentage with Moore ranking 8th in the league with 3.33 kills per game and 5th in total kills with 140.

&\#149;Julie Geissert, just the third Titan to ever accumulate over 2,000 assists, ranks 3rd in the Big West with 11.98 assists per game, with the second-best total with 503. Cal Poly's Chelsea Hayes leads with 620 assists, and 12.65 per game.

&\#149; Fullerton leads the Conference in serving, posting 2.10 aces a game led by setter Julie Geissert (0.40 sapg), hitter Danielle Hitzeman (0.33 sapg) and libero Vanessa Vella (0.33 sapg). The trio ranks in the top ten in the Big West with the setter holding the No. 3 spot all to herself. Hitzeman and Vella are in a four-way tie for 5th.

&\#149;Junior Vanessa Vella has had to do all the shoveling over the past two seasons - all alone. This season, she has had some help in the back-court with the help of newcomers Mounia Nihpali, and Deven Bukoski and returner Danielle Hitzeman who have each all registered over 100 digs so far. Vella leads the team with 193 total digs, and is No. 4 in the conference with 4.60 per game. Danielle Hitzeman, who gathered 67 scoops over the weekend, moved into the top 10, holding down the fort at No. 8 with 3.17 dpg.

&\#149; Brittany Moore has a handle of the Titans' blocking, coming in at No. 8 in the conference with 1.14 bpg. The sophomore has 48 total blocks and has the third-best total in league when it comes to the solo variety.

&\#149;Fullerton has the second-best attack percentage in the conference (.229) behind Long Beach State (.247). Also Fullerton is holding their opponents to just a .106 percentage to lead the conference.

GET THAT GIRL A SHOVEL: Junior Vanessa Vella (5-9, L, Castro Valley, Calif.), was just the third Titan to ever receive a first-team all Big West Conference nod when she earned her spot last season, and has taken Fullerton's libero position and has made it her own. In her first season (2004), Vella set the school record for digs at 479 only to shatter it with 581 last season as a sophomore. Vella finished No. 25 in the nation with 5.33 digs per game. In just two seasons in a Titan uniform, Vella has already surpassed the 1,000-dig mark and, barring any major setbacks, will break the school record for digs sometime this year.

DIGGING QUEENS:Vanessa Vella passed another former Titan on the career digs leader board, moving into possession of the No. 2 spot all-time. Vella has accumulated 193 digs thus far in 2006 giving her 1253 in her career to move her past Kim Levey (1999-02). She now sits just 140 scoops behind Stephanie Scofield (1988-91). Vella holds both the record and the No. 2 spot for most digs in a season and also holds the record for most digs in a match at Fullerton with 35 (vs. UTEP, 9/3/05). She holds six of the top ten single-match dig marks, including four of the five top slots.

MORE ON MOORE:Brittany Moore (5-11, OH/MB, Orange Calif.) became the tenth Titan to join the all-freshman team in 2005 since the inaugural team was announced in 1986. Moore's .310 hitting percentage in 2005 led the team, and kept her in the conference top ten a majority of the season, finishing sixth. She not only hit for percentage, but led the Titans with 104 total blocks and 13 solos, just out of the conference's top 10.

NOT A TYPO: Hawai'ian native, and Fresno State transfer Mounia Nihipali (5-11, OH, JR, Honolulu, Hawai'i) has a middle name that rivals the length of the alphabet, and actually beats it if you count punctuation! Kealohakeanuenueo'ku'upu'uwai is her middle name, (you might have to ask her to say it for you) and it is 26 letters long. Good luck to Mounia getting that name in those tiny spaces they leave you on applications! And we thought Amanda Pfielschiefter (volleyball) and Nolan Bruyninckx (baseball) were tough.

A HELPING HAND: Junior Julie Geissert surpassed the 2000-assist mark on Sept. 16, a feat only two other Titans have accomplished in their careers. The junior posted the sixth-best assist total in Titan history last season when she accumulated 1114 assists and is well on her way to matching that total with 503 so far this season. The Fresno native has posted 50-or-more assists three times, 45-or-more three times and passed teammate JENNA CARNEY on Sept. 5 at LMU, moving into fourth place all-time in assists at Cal State Fullerton. Geissert will have her work cut out for herself to pass No. 3 Melissa Blackler (3001 assists), the next rung on the ladder.